Sorrell takes control of shell vehicle to buy marketing companies

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LONDON, May 30 (Reuters) - Martin Sorrell, the recently ousted boss of WPP, has taken control of a listed shell company to use it as a vehicle to buy marketing firms, replicating the approach he took in the 1980s to build the world’s biggest advertising group.

In a statement Sorrell said he would invest 40 million pounds ($53 million) of his own money into Derriston Capital , a little-known two-year-old listed shell company, which would be renamed S4 Capital, an entity controlled by Sorrell.

Sorrell will become executive chairman while institutional investors have provided 11 million pounds and indicated they will be willing to provide 150 million pounds of further equity to make acquisitions.